Self-Management

Patients who received an at-home BP monitor and coaching via a smartphone app to promote healthy behaviors experienced similar reductions in BP as patients who used a BP tracking app and monitor, according to research published in JAMA Network Open.

With mental health issues becoming more prevalent on college campuses, researchers are working to help students more easily obtain mental health care by developing a wearable continuous monitoring tool.

A web-based coaching intervention administered at Dutch nephrology outpatient clinics helped patients with chronic kidney disease reduce their sodium intake during a 3-month period, according to study results.

Financial incentive programs to support diabetes self-management in families with adolescents with type 1 diabetes may improve health outcomes, according to a qualitative study published in Pediatric Diabetes.

Diabetes self-management education and support, or DSMES, the service offered by diabetes educators, improves HbA1c, reduces health system expenditures and decreases the risks for developing the acute and chronic complications associated with diabetes. Yet insurance companies report that most individuals with diabetes do not receive these services. Although this can be attributed to many factors, some of it directly relates to our very name, diabetes educator.

The roles of diabetes educators — and the settings where they work — are evolving to address the increasing prevalence of diabetes and meet new demands for population-level diabetes performance measures. To signal this evolution, the American Association of Diabetes Educators is promoting a new name for these professionals: diabetes care and education specialists.

Detailed directives based on proven practice for hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia treatment are not always features of diabetes apps, which means people with type 2 diabetes must be careful when selecting apps to help manage their diabetes, according to findings published in Diabetes/Metabolism Research and Reviews.

CHICAGO — Results form a study on socioeconomic effects on medication on adherence in patients who underwent liver transplantation revealed that community deprivation and black race regardless of deprivation correlated with nonadherence, according to a presentation at NASPGHAN 2019.

In a published study, patients with chronic kidney disease identified three major themes regarding what might enhance their self-management capabilities. These included greater disease-related knowledge, improved information-sharing abilities and strong support networks.

In this issue, Susan Weiner, MS, RDN, CDE, CDN, FAADE, talks with Michelle May, MD, and Megrette Fletcher, MEd, RD, CDE, about mindful eating for diabetes self-management.